Fourteen Years Since Fish Custard
by gingersandbowties
Summary: After fourteen years, he finally came back. For the first time. It should have been the night before her wedding, only this time it wasn't. It was time for the two of them to start running. AU.


A/N: It's been a while since I've written anything, but I had a couple of ideas, so I decided to start from scratch with a brand new fic. This is likely to slowly turn into an Amy x Eleven story. Please r&r!

* * *

The last five minutes seemed to have stretched on into an eternity; time seemed to be infinite, and there was nothing she could do to escape it.

He was staring straight at her, he was looking at her with judging eyes; with disgust.

Was this really so wrong? It felt like the right thing to do, but he kept bringing up words that made her rethink everything.

Deceit. Pain. Betrayal.

But, where did the deceit and the betrayal come in? She hadn't cheated on him, she hadn't lied to him, she'd simply realised there was a difference between the love she felt for Rory, and the love that _should_ be felt towards the man she'd spend the rest of her life with.

Rory Williams was a great friend, but Amy couldn't keep kidding herself: this wasn't real love.

Well, not on her part at least.

It felt like his heart had been crushed into a million pieces; like she'd torn it from his chest and stomped on it a few thousand times, before attempting to hand it back to him. All he wanted to do was convince her to stay; convince her that he really loved her, but every time he opened his mouth, all he could do was yell at her.

"How could you do this to me?"

Seeing her look so taken aback almost caused him to scoff, but, to her, her reaction made perfect sense.

Do this to him? She wasn't intentionally doing anything to him, she hadn't woken up that morning and decided it was time to hurt Rory. She'd woken up and realised she needed to end things now, before it was too late to turn back.

As much as it may have seemed like it, Amy Pond's end game wasn't to hurt Rory Williams; it was to do the best thing for both of them. And marrying Rory certainly wasn't 'the best thing' as far as she was concerned.

"Look, Rory...It's not about that, it's not about 'hurting you', or getting back at you, or whatever you think I'm trying to do. It's about doing the right thing for both of us - I mean, that's what you want, yeah? Well, this isn't what I want. I don't want to settle down, and stay in Leadworth for the rest of my life. I want to go out there, see the Universe, and-"

The last few words alone seemed to cause his eyes to darken. She could see the disgust in his face, and feel the venom in his words, as he interrupted her to spit out a single sentence, filled with loathing and disappointment.

"This is about him, isn't it?"

She hadn't mentioned her Raggedy Doctor in years. After the fourth psychiatrist had come and gone, Amy had learnt that keeping her mouth shut was her best bet - She could still _think _about his visit, and the fact he was out there somewhere, but keeping it to herself would be easier for everyone.

But, Rory wasn't an idiot. He may not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, but he knew she hadn't simply stopped believing one day. He knew that somewhere, however deep down, she was still longing for her Doctor to come back for her, one day.

"Him? You mean The Doctor? It's been almost _fourteen years_, Rory, I was just a little kid then. This isn't about him. This is about us, and 'us' isn't working. I told you from day one that I wasn't the marrying type, you were the one who-"

"Then why did you say yes?!"

It was a valid question. Their friendship had slowly progressed into a relationship, and as time had gone on, she had struggled to tell him she wasn't the type of girl to get married. She didn't want a fairytale wedding; she didn't want to be tied down and feel like she always had to stay in one place.

All Amy wanted was to travel; to explore the world. She should have never said yes to his proposal, but he was a hard one to say no to. Still, this was an awful lot harder; if she'd have said no when he'd asked her, he'd have been crushed. But this? She could see that this was breaking his heart, slowly but surely.

"I'm sorry, Rory."

Her words were a feeble attempt to make him feel better, but nothing she could say now would do that. There was nothing she could do to fix what she'd just done.

There was no pang of sadness, no feeling of heartbreak, just pure and simple relief washing over her, as her ex-fiancé left, holding a ring which she would never see again.

* * *

As much as she was pleased with what she'd done, and how things had turned out, sleeping wasn't an option. The guilt tore at her; made her feel empty and cruel, and all she could do was toss and turn, and hope that the next day would be better.

Within a matter of seconds, however, she was sitting bolt upright. There was no mistaking the sound she could hear, and as much as her mind refused to believe it, her body was acting of its own accord.

She was running; running faster than she could ever recall running before, moving as fast as she could towards the garden. The door came into view, and she was screaming for him; screaming The Doctor's name, unaffected by anything else, other than the sound which had stayed so clearly in her mind for the last fourteen years.

It was real, it was all real; the blue box stood there in her back garden, just as it had when she was seven years old. It looked exactly the same, and so did the man stepping from it. But, she had changed; fourteen years of her life had happened, and she wasn't the same little girl he'd come back for.

"Doctor."

The word was croaked out, almost timidly, which was certainly _not _an Amy Pond trait. She was just scared; she was lonely; she wanted him: wanted to grab his hand and run with him; wanted to kiss him and ask him to make the pain go away...She wanted him in every and any capacity, just as long as he would be _her _Raggedy Doctor.

"Amelia?!" The shock upon his face was almost comical, and despite everything, Amy couldn't help but smirk at his confusion, and clear awkwardness. He'd come back looking for a seven year old girl, and had instead found a twenty one year old, freshly out of bed and barely dressed.

"Amy," The red head corrected him, with a raised eyebrow, and a hand on her hip. In all honesty, she'd expected to be extremely angry at him when this day finally came, but after all she'd done to Rory within the last twenty four hours, trying to draw up anger was nigh on impossible.

"It's been fourteen years."

Naturally, he'd expected her to be angry. It had quickly became apparent that a _lot_ of time had passed, and he'd assumed she'd lash out: hit him, or yell at him, or refuse to go with him. But, she just sounded so...Lost.

"D'you...Ah, still want to come with me?"

"Did I ever say I did in the first place?"

She had a point, he realised. "Oh. I just assumed that you..."

"Course I want to come, stupid. Just one question-"

The Doctor inhaled sharply, expecting the worst - Was she going to ask him about his former companions? What his real name was? Why she should come with him? He was preparing for the worst, and honestly had nothing prepared to say in return...But, he was The Doctor, he was sure he could think of _something _to tell her, regardless of what she asked.

"What's with the bowtie?"

The question caused a laugh of sheer delight to tumble from his lips, as he tugged on the bowtie, haphazardly. "Bowties. Are. Cool."

As his new found companion scoffed, he took the opportunity to grab her hand and pull her inside, before she had the chance to say another word.

"Come along, Pond - We've got a Universe to explore! I have fourteen years of lost time to make up for."

And, for the first time in twenty four hours, Amy Pond wasn't think of the heartache she'd brought upon Rory, she was simply thinking that this was the first day of the rest of her life.

And nothing was going to bring her down.


End file.
